Dick Koffenberger became involved with NACE while working for DuPont in the 1970s. “I got involved and stayed involved for exposure, not just to ‘like’ companies and not just to the people I knew, but to learn and take something back to my company to better our operation,” he explains.

Many employer and college members paved the way for him, Koffenberger says. “Eleanor Cawthon from Louisiana Tech was absolutely professional, articulate, and precise, and had a tremendous influence on me,” he states.

“Neil DeRosa of Georgia Tech made one comment that had a big impact—on one of my first visits there, he stuck his head in the office and said, ‘You people get more done with the least bother to us than any organization that comes to campus.’ I took that to heart and used it as my credo—the way I conducted business.”

He developed friendships with many NACE members. “George Crook from Monsanto was a guy you couldn’t help but like. We were friendly competitors and became close friends,” Koffenberger says. “We still visit his widow once a year.”

As for assuming leadership roles in the association, Koffenberger says, “Some of these things just happen!” He was exposed to leadership in the field through the Southern organization and later became involved with CPC on a national level—to “give something back to the profession.”

Giving back included serving as president of the national association during a National Meeting year; at the time, the national conference was held once every three years. As president in 1992-93, Koffenberger says, “one of the things you have in mind is accountability. We wanted to have a successful meeting in terms of fiscal responsibility and content.”

He faced economic challenges in his professional work as well. “You had to be able to work your way through economic cycles to maintain relationships with campuses and students on campuses. A lot of people didn’t even want you to come to campus on a down cycle, but many faculty and administration members would understand [fluctuating economic] cycles,” he says. “We developed relationships with those on campus and kept them up to date with what was happening in the industry. We also kept giving funds to institutions.”

Another challenge Koffenberger faced was sourcing women and minorities for positions, a challenge that continues. “There were limited numbers [of these groups] involved in the technical world, engineering and chemistry. We had to locate sources of women and minorities, and really think about what we could do to increase their numbers in the technical fields.”

He became active in groups that could help influence those numbers. “I was very much involved in the Southeastern region consortium for minorities in engineering,” he says.

“As for the future, the profession is going to be in a constant state of flux,” Koffenberger says. “Personnel on the industry and corporate side of the membership continue to change at ever-increasing rates, to the point of some organizations outsourcing functions.”

There may come a time when the association will need to address this, he says. “Colleges and universities would always have to deal with a new set of people coming to campus on behalf of employers—not a lot of continuity there. And the corporate side will be challenged to most economically accommodate what they need regarding recruiting.”

Koffenberger suggests that NACE will have to listen to its constituency and at times lead them through changes to operate more efficiently. “The association can provide in a timely manner products and services that members need.”

Kathy Sims, director of the career center at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), has been a member of the national association since her first job at West Virginia University (WVU) in the late 1970s. “Frank Carney, director of the career office at WVU demonstrated an active commitment to professional development activities,” she remembers. “He was careful to ensure that his young professional staff understood the value of [NACE] membership.”

Sims says that Carney stands out as a mentor regarding her career and commitment to professional associations. “He launched my interest in contributing,” she says. “Over the years, I’ve worked with many of my contemporaries in the field, and we’ve motivated each other to get involved with professional associations.”

And get involved she did. “I always felt that I enjoyed and was most effective on the committee level,” she says. “I’m a ‘worker bee’ and felt I would be of greater service at that level.” Sims also served on the association’s board, including as president.

She is most proud of helping influence the association to adopt the strategic planning process that is still used today. “This process allows NACE to be more nimble and to review and adapt that strategic plan to fit the changing environment and needs of members,” she explains. “This has helped NACE become a dynamic, proactive, forward-thinking association that truly represents its national membership. I am proud of having been a small part of that.”

Another challenge at the association level had to do with making the National Meeting an annual conference. “The challenge wasn’t making the decision—it was right for the association and its members,” she says. “The challenge for the leadership of NACE was to communicate effectively so that members would feel connected to the decision that we made.”

When Sims was NACE president, she appointed a global task force that set the foundation for some of NACE’s current international initiatives by convening representatives from 22 countries at the 2002 NACE National Meeting to discuss common interests and opportunities for working together. This led to NACE’s participation in the development of the International Net work of Graduate Recruitment and Development Associations (INGRADA), a network of like-minded organizations designed to enhance the global information available about the recruitment and career development of higher education graduates. (Note: INGRADA’s web site, www.ingrada.org, provides information about member organizations and direct links to relevant parts of each organization’s web site.)

In her work at various career centers, Sims has overcome many challenges. Since 1995, she has served as director of the UCLA Career Center, where she supported an outreach model that included career center sponsorship of student groups. She also started a career center annual campaign and special events that significantly increased career center income.

Looking toward the future, Sims sees NACE evolving into “an international organization that can respond to the growing international needs of our partners —and our members—through relationships and resources. Our growth and direction have been so positive, I am excited about the future.”

Gale Varma has been an active member of NACE since her stint as an associate director of the career center at Rutgers University; through her positions in human resources at AT&T Corporate Headquarters, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and Prudential; and now as executive vice president for human resources at Charming Shoppes, Inc.

She counts many in and out of the profession as advisers, and believes they are important throughout her career. “I always try to maintain a ‘gallery’ of a half-dozen mentors over my career span,” she explains, “three of which are with my current organization and three external subject matter experts.”

The diversity of mentors provides Varma with a broad spectrum of advice and counsel. “It’s important to get the mentoring perspectives of both genders and from individuals whose racial backgrounds differ from mine,” she adds. “This input has been incredibly valuable to me as a recruiter, career counselor, and human resources professional.” That input also aided her while in leadership roles in NACE.

“Programs and services developed when I served in leadership positions were focused on expanding the presence and connectivity of NACE internationally; [and] enhancing the usability and packaging of the products we produced for various constituencies, including students, career center counselors, and recruiters,” she says. “Others dealt with applying academic research findings on recruiting and candidate selection in the ‘real world’; beginning the changeover from paper to paperless recruiting—the use of candidate data bases and applicant tracking systems; and improving the education and training opportunities for recruiters.”

Over the years, Varma has seen—and met—many challenges that have made improvements to the career services and HR/staffing fields. “The profession has come a long way, baby…” she says.

However, she adds, “Efficiency and speed of delivery still challenge us. And even though the Internet makes a big difference in how we communicate; exchange information; and enable candidates to find, interview, and receive job offers, we are still challenged to develop the effective relationship and connection that defines a successful person-job fit. The science of recruiting has improved, yet there is still artistry in the process.”

Varma has found rewards in the art of educating up-and-coming recruiters. “Attempting to teach new recruiters that ‘well-executed’ recruiting is a combination of science and art has been challenging as well as satisfying for me,” she explains.

Varma thinks that NACE’s future is contingent on its mission of serving both sides of the profession. “The way NACE offers membership to both employers and universities/colleges is its greatest strength,” she says. According to Varma, this will continue in the future because the association provides a forum for partnerships, strategic alliances, debates, governance of the recruiting process, cross-training, and, in the final analysis, connectivity from the education to the employment of the country’s most valuable talent source—new college graduates.

“If NACE members continue to develop innovations that add value in their respective organizations in a manner that recognizes that the world moves at the ‘speed of life,’ then I am confident that this professional association and its members have a robust future ahead,” Varma says.

Editor’s Note: In celebration of NACE’s 50th anniversary, through 2006, each issue of the NACE Journal will feature articles charting the association’s and its’ members’ growth and progression over the years. In the Summer issue, we take a look at how technology developments, including NACElink, have improved NACE’s ability to connect with and serve its members.

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Copyright Notice: This article originally appeared in the Spring 2006 issue of NACE’s Journal. NACE members have the permission of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, copyright holder, to download and photocopy this article for internal purposes. Photocopies must include this copyright notice. Those who do not hold membership, or who wish to use the article for other purposes, should contact Claudia Allen, callen@naceweb.org, 800/544-5272, ext. 129. Electronic reproduction of this article is prohibited.